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A coronavirus wedding: masks in matching white, no guests beyond family, and a honeymoon in quarantine

  • Many weddings have been delayed, but this couple decided to go ahead with theirs in a show of normality
  • The groom needed special permit to take his bride from a city under lockdown, though, and they won’t be honeymooning anywhere

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Palestinian bride and groom Baraa Amarneh and Imad Sharaf, wearing masks as a preventive measure against the coronavirus, leave a hairdressing salon on their wedding day in Beit Jala, Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Photo: Reuters

A recent wedding saw a twist on a familiar scene: the wore a long white dress, but with a matching face mask and gloves to protect against the novel coronavirus.

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As the Covid-19 illness sweeps the globe, public events have been cancelled in droves, including many weddings. Those seeking to plough ahead with their nuptials have had to radically alter their plans.

Baraa Amarneh and her fiancé, Imad Sharaf, decided to carry on with their wedding, despite the bride coming from Bethlehem, the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak in the West Bank.

Almost all of the 52 Covid-19 cases among Palestinians have been in the Bethlehem governorate.

Imad Sharaf accompanies his bride Baraa Amarneh on their wedding day in Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Photo: Reuters
Imad Sharaf accompanies his bride Baraa Amarneh on their wedding day in Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Photo: Reuters
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The couple’s wedding had been planned months in advance and Sharaf, 25, said they decided not to postpone to show fellow Palestinians that life could continue, despite the pandemic.

The city where Christians believe Jesus was born has been under lockdown, with no one allowed in or out without a permit, for more than two weeks.

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